The SAS killed my unarmed family in raid, says Afghan

An Afghan civilian yesterday claimed four unarmed members of his family were killed by British special forces.

The unnamed witness said elite troops stormed his home in southern Helmand in 2011 and shot his innocent father, two brothers and cousin.

His public testimony is the first by an alleged victim of UK special forces. The case is the last remaining allegation of unlawful killing still under investigation by military police after 51 others were thrown out in recent months.

In once case, revealed on Sunday, SAS soldiers were accused of executing unarmed Afghan civilians in cold blood before planting guns to make the victims appear to be insurgents.

In the most recent claim, the Afghan civilian said elite British soldiers had flown in during the night in two helicopters. Family members were deliberately shot even though they were unarmed and were not affiliated to the Taliban or other group, he said. He told the BBC: ‘They started searching the house and after that they searched me and my father. They separated me from my father and closed my eyes and asked me to sit down. We were in that room for the rest of the night.’

He added: ‘early morning they came and open my eyes and said I should not go out until they left the area. As soon as I came out of the room, I saw that they had martyred my father, two brothers and cousin.’

Officers from the Royal Military Police are due to fly out to Afghanistan to interview the man as part of a probe codenamed Operation northmoor.

general Lord Richard Dannatt, former head of the army, yesterday said there should be ‘no witchhunts but no cover-ups’. He told the BBC: ‘If there is evidence of wrongdoing it should be investigated but we should be very, very careful about throwing mud at our very special, special forces.’

It is understood the case is also currently subject to a civil claim brought by discredited law firm Leigh Day. Former army intelligence officer Chris green, who has been tasked with looking into abuse cases, said there had not been enough transparency over the actions of elite troops.

He said: ‘It was my view that the British forces that I worked with worked under a very very strict rules of engagement and it seemed to me that special forces did not have to apply the same rules in quite the same way.’

He said he faced a ‘wall of secrecy’ while investigating claims troops had acted unlawfully.

Operation northmoor, launched in 2014, examined 52 allegations of unlawful deaths, mainly by special forces. But 51 were deemed not serious enough to be referred to prosecutors.

An MoD spokesman said: ‘The Royal Military Police has found no evidence of criminal behaviour by the Armed Forces in Afghanistan.’

US-backed rebels have breached the walls of Raqqa’s Old City as they try to take Islamic State’s last stronghold in Syria. Washington hailed yesterday’s operation as a ‘ key milestone’ in the campaign to liberate the city, which was the scene of some of IS’s worst atrocities.

SAS troops probed over claims they executed innocent Afghans From Monday’s Mail